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chapter forty
( the last olympian )
❝ his mortal tether! ❞
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When I came to again, there was just pain. I felt a cool rag against my head, and when my vision returned, I saw Silena looking over me, on the verge of tears. It was summer, but I felt like I was back in a freezer, back when I had just come out of the Transition. I shivered and felt blankets over me. That only made the pain worse, and I winced. I think I was on the terrace of the Plaza Hotel, where we had set up camp for the infirmary, battle strategy and such. But my head was light, and I let it fall back.
"What ... what happened?" it hurt to speak, my voice was hoarse.
Silena sniffled, quickly wiping away the tears as she kept pressing the cloth to my head. "You got wounded pretty bad, Claire. The dagger ... it was poisoned."
I don't think the true severity of the situation hit me. "Oh ..." I murmured, trying to see my arm. I winced as I craned my neck, and saw Cain, Annabeth and her siblings surrounding me. "Um, hello ..." I managed. "What ... the bridge ... we were at the━" my stomach jolted, "━Gods, Percy━" I went to move, only to let out a stifled cry of pain. Needles stabbed through my flesh, and I fell back down, my vision becoming hazy again.
"Don't try to get up," Annabeth said, her grey eyes pained. "Okay? Just rest? Okay? They're fine. He's fine. Your siblings are still on the bridge, searching for M━" she stopped herself, and shared an uneasy glance with Cain.
"What?" I frowned, feeling that drop of my stomach again. If I wasn't so dazed, I think I would've figured it out, but right now, I couldn't think straight. It was just pain, pain, pain, Percy, pain, pain, pain━ "What are they searching for?"
Before Annabeth could answer, a voice called out from inside the Plaza:
"Later━Where's Claire?" Percy called.
Jake Mason replied, "The terrace. She's alive, man, but..."
But Percy just pushed past him. I saw him rush over with Will beside him. They pushed through the group surrounding me, and I managed a breathy smile at the sight of him. "You're okay," I murmured as Annabeth and Cain stepped back, and Will unwrapped the bandages to examine the wound.
"Yeah ..." Percy saw the wound, and he choked up. "Gods, Claire ..."
"Poison on the dagger, right?" I asked Silena weakly, and she nodded. "Yeah ... um ... pretty stupid of me, huh? But it's okay. I'll be okay."
Percy shook his head, "Hey, don't shove this off as nothing."
I gave him a look, even in my state. "Percy, I am a healer most of the time, I can tell when━ow, Will ..."
My brother muttered a, "Sorry," before he let out a sigh of relief. "She's right. It's not so bad. But Claire, seriously, a few more minutes and we would've been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder yet. Somebody hand me some nectar."
Percy grabbed a flask. He handed it to Will before taking my hand. I frowned, confused as to what was happening━kind of ... I don't know ... my brain is fuzzy and all over the place━Oh! That plant's really pretty━ "OW!"
Will cleaned out the wound with the Nectar, and it stung like hell. I cried out in pain, gripping Percy's hand so tight they turned purple. But I stayed still━or tried to━like Will asked. Silena muttered words of encouragement. Annabeth stood watching with Cain, her fingers to her mouth with worry. I heard Will mutter some words in Ancient Greek, but the pain made it hard to figure out which hymm to our father he was saying. He applied some paste, fresh bandages, and then he stood up shakily.
"You shouldn't have used up your energy..." I told him softly, seeing him really pale. "I'm fine..."
"You're fine now," he told me. "That should do it. But we're going to need some mortal supplies." He grabbed a piece of hotel stationary, jotted down some notes and handed it to Malcom. "There's a pharmacy on Fifth. Normally, I would never steal━"
"I would," Travis volunteered.
Will glared at him, "Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you've got, but this is an emergency. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot more people to treat."
Percy pursed his lips and just shuffled over, blocking my view while Silena continued to press the cool cloth on my skin.
"Come on, guys," said Travis. "Let's give Claire some space. We've got a pharmacy to raid━I mean, visit."
Cain sighed, "I'll go with you to make sure you don't steal anything."
The demigods shuffled back inside. Annabeth gave me a last worried glance before following. Jake Mason grabbed Percy's shoulder as he was leaving. "We'll talk later, but it's under control. I'm using Annabeth's shield to keep an eye on things, and she'll help now that she's here, too. The enemy withdrew at sunrise; not sure why. We've got a lookout at each bridge and tunnel."
"Thanks, man," said Percy.
He closed the doors of the terrace behind him, and Silena, Percy and I were alone.
"Do you think Will put cookies on the list," I murmured━I'm genuinely curious! "Cookies would make me feel better. Especially your mom's blue ones, they're really nice."
Percy gave me a small, tired lopsided smile. "I'll tell her you said that."
Silena pressed the cool cloth to my forehead again, and my attention swerved back to her. "This is all my fault," she said, tearful.
"What? Why?" I asked her weakly, some of my mind coming back to me after Will used that hymm to Dad. "Silena, how is this your fault? If anything, it's mine ..."
"I've never been good at camp," she told me. "Not like you or Percy. If I were a better fighter..."
Her lips trembled. Ever since Beckendorf died she had been getting worse, and I wish I could heal grief like I could heal a cut. "You're a great camper," Percy told her. "You're the best pegasus rider we have. And you get along with people. Believe me, anyone who can make friends with Clarisse has talent."
She stared at him, struck with an idea. "That's it! We need the Ares cabin. I can talk to Clarrisse. I know I can convince her to help us!"
"Whoa, Silena. Even if you could get off the island. Clarisse is pretty stubborn. Once she gets angry━"
"Please," she begged. "I can take a pegasus. I know I can make it back to camp. Let me try."
Percy met my gaze, wondering what to do. I nodded. She was right. If anyone can get Clarisse to see sense, it would be Silena. So, he took a deep breath and said, "All right. I can't think of anybody better to try."
Silena threw her arms around him, and I frowned. Just as quickly, she pushed him back awkwardly, glancing at me. "Um━sorry. Thank you, Percy! I won't let you down!"
Once she was gone, it was just the two of us. Percy knelt down next to me and placed his hand gently against my forehead. His brows knitted together in worry, and I couldn't help but smile. Reaching up my good arm, I touched the wrinkles in his brow from his frown, and traced them.
"You're really cute when you're worried," I whispered, and my fingers fell down to the side of his face, gentle. "Maybe I should get hurt more often. I like seeing your brows all scrunched up together."
"You are not going to die while I owe you a favour," he told me, and I smiled weakly, brushing some grime off of his cheek with my thumb. "You've already died once, you can't die again, all right?"
"Yes, sir," I said, grinning, but it was half-hearted. My shoulder still screamed in pain, and I felt so cold, and yet so hot at the same time. My fingers fell, already feeling even weaker as if that was so much effort, and it was... Percy's brow grew even more furrowed in concern, and he took my hand again.
"Why did you take that knife?" he then asked me, and I would've shrugged if I wasn't in so much pain.
"You would have done the same for me."
He knew I was right. But still, he took a deep breath and shuffled closer, "How did you know?"
I frowned, "Know what?"
Percy glanced around, making sure we were alone. Then, he leaned in close and whispered, "My Achilles spot. If you hadn't taken that knife, I would've died."
My stomach jolted. He had been in danger. I had sensed it, and I was right, and I just threw myself in━ "I━I don't know, Perc ..." I murmured, feeling heavy hearted, or maybe that was just my head. "I just ... I had this feeling you were in danger and ... and I couldn't lose you."
"Yeah, well," he brushed my hair off my face. "I can't lose you, too. So just stay alive, all right?"
"Where is it?" I then asked, my breath hitching. We were so close ... so close ... "Your ... your spot?"
Percy's eyes flickered down to our hands. "The small of my back."
I let go of his hand, and found myself reaching behind his back and touching his spine. "Here?" I whispered. Percy took my fingers and moved them down to the small of his back. It didn't feel like I was touching his Achilles spot, but at the hitch of Percy's breath, it definitely felt like it to him.
"You saved me," he said. "Thanks."
I pulled back my hand, but he kept a hold of it. I managed a smile, "I always save your life."
"Yeah," murmured Percy, "yeah, you do."
He hesitated for a second, but then leaned down, and softly pressed his lips on my forehead, lingering.
"You got to rest," he whispered against my skin.
But I shook my head, "I can't ... I don't want to have to close my eyes and see it."
Immediately, Percy knew what I meant. "Hey, you'll defeat him. I know you can."
"But what if I can't?" my voice cracked, and I don't know whether it was from the pain or the tears that welled up in my eyes. "I'm━I'm so scared, Percy. He's ... he's the worst monster there is. I can't ... how can I stop him when most of the Olympians can't?"
"Because it's you," he whispered, fingers tapping my cheek tenderly. "You'll annoy him to death, or whatever."
"No, that's you."
Percy chuckled, "Oh, wow, ouch..." his smile fell, as if a thought crossed his mind. I saw the fall of his face, and my stomach twisted.
"What is it?" I asked him.
He quickly shook his head, "No, don't worry about it. You got to rest━"
"Percy," I cut him off, watching him sternly. He suddenly wouldn't meet my gaze, "What is it?"
He pursed his lips, and gave me a pained look. "I'm sorry, Claire. I━I tried. I didn't even realise. It's my fault ..."
"What?"
He squeezed my hand. "Michael ... Claire, he's missing. The bridge went down, and ... and I lost him. I couldn't find him. Your siblings are looking, but I'm afraid he's ..."
Percy didn't need to finish his sentence. I knew what he ment. He's dead. Michael's dead. I bit my bottom lip, trying not to cry, but I couldn't stop it. Percy sat down next to me, and held my hand as I cried. I couldn't move, because it then hurt too much, but not as much as it hurt on the inside. Not much as the realisation of how I should have been nicer, spent more time with him, fixed our arguments hit because now, I couldn't do that. Now, he was gone. Just like Lee, and just like Jay.
The terrace door opened, and Connor Stoll stepped through.
"Percy," he glanced at me, seeing the tears on my cheeks. He looked hesitant on saying something. "Mrs O'Leary just came back with Grover. I think you should talk to him."
Percy looked like he didn't want to leave me, not right now when I was crying. But he nodded to Connor and he stepped back into the Plaza, closing the door.
"I'm coming back," he told me, before kissing me again on the forehead. "Get some rest..."
He stood up, letting go of my hand softly before leaving through the terrace door and back inside. In his place, after a few minutes, returned Annabeth. She sat against the chair on the terrace, gazing out at the morning sun, looking very tired. Her hair was all over her face, but she didn't care. There was some scratches on her face, one that had a big fat bandaid over.
She leaned back her head so it rested gently on my leg, and let out a sigh. "You are the most idiotic and brave demigod I know."
I frowned, "Hey ..." I said weakly. "I'm not as bad as Percy. And you would've done the same if you were in this situation, don't lie."
"Yeah but you shouldn't have taken that knife for him," she met my gaze, pained. "How do you think you'll take on Typhon, now?"
The truth was, I don't know. I don't know, at all. I know I should think about it, but I was far too scared to. I was most likely going to die, again, and I might not even defeat him like everyone tells me I will. I'll just fail, and die, end of the story. Annabeth seemed to know what I was thinking, and so she let out another sigh. Playing with her dagger━Luke's old dagger━I felt a clench in my heart.
"Why was Hermes mad at us?" I decided to then ask her, my voice timid, but reaching her ears because her shoulders tensed up.
Annabeth pursed her lips, "It's been bothering me for a long time," she whispered, and I moved my shoulder━wincing as I did━so I could lie down closer to her, and hear what she said clearly. "Last year, Luke came to visit me in San Francisco."
"In person?" I asked, frowning. "He came to your house?"
"This was before we went into the Labyrinth, before ..." she faltered, and I knew what she meant: before he turned into Kronos. "He came under a flag of truce. He said he only wanted five minutes to talk. He looked scared, Claire. He told me Kronos was going to use him to take over the world. He said he wanted to run away, like the old days. He wanted to know where you were, so he could bring you along to. He wanted the both of us to come with him. He told me he went looking for you, for ages, but you were on your quest, and so he never found you. I didn't tell him━I didn't trust him. I thought it was a trick. Plus ... well, a lot of things had changed since the old days. I told Luke there was no way. He got mad. He said━he said I might as well fight him right there, because it was the last chance I'd get."
There were tears in her eyes, and she quickly wiped them away. "Hermes was right. Maybe if I'd gone with him, if I told him where you were, I could've changed his mind━we could've changed hismind. Or━or I had a knife. Luke was unharmed. I could've━"
"No..." I murmured, the energy having been taken out of me from moving. "No, that wouldn't have been the right thing, and you know it."
"I'm sorry Hermes blames you, too," Annabeth then said. "I'm sorry you had to be dragged into all of this."
"Don't worry about it," I said. "I blame myself, too, Annie..." her shoulders softened at the old nickname, "we all blame ourselves. And maybe ... maybe we could have saved Luke, maybe ... maybe we could have stopped him, and yeah, it hurts knowing that━it hurts so much ... but we'll get through it together, yeah? Like always."
"Like always..." sighed Annabeth and rested her head on the chair with me, gazing up at my face. She looked paler than usual, and with a hitch of her breath, she said. "I━I love you, Claire. You know that, right?"
I frowned, wondering why that sounded like such a hard thing for her to say. "Yeah, of course I know. I love you, too. You're my best friend."
Annabeth gave me a tight smile. "Yeah ..." she murmured, sounding quite sad, but probably from the conversation we just had. "Yeah, I know. You're my best friend, too."
"So ..." I didn't like the sudden tension that settled. "What's the news. What was Percy called for?"
Annabeth winced, "Thalia and Grover are back. They don't bring the best news. Grover has rallied some nature spirits, they're fighting off the little skirmishes here and there. But ... but they lost twenty satyrs against giants at Fort Washington..."
"Oh, Gods..."
"Yeah. Thalia also says Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and tunnel, and that he isn't the only Titan. One of the Hunters spotted a huge man in goolden armour gathering an army on the Jersey shore. We're not sure who he is, but we know he's either a god or a Titan."
I feel terrible that I'm injured now. I should be out there and helping. I should━I wish I could get off this stupid chair!
"But we'll handle it," Annabeth said, seeing the urgent look upon my face. "You have to rest, now, and heal. You can't beat Typhon like this, and you know that."
She was right. She's always right. I sighed, but managed a nod. Annabeth grabbed the washcloth again, dipping it into the cool water and placing it back on my head. "It's going to be okay, yeah? I'm gonna be right here."
With that said, my eyes fluttered closed. I dreamed about the Gods fighting Typhon. He was getting closer and closer, and Hermes was right, he had been slowing down, but not enough. Their chariots of gold and silver flew in the air like small bees attacking a mountain; a moving mountain of storm, winds and chaos. I saw my father there, and my heart nearly stopped to see him narrowly miss being knocked afoot from his chariot. He sent a volley of arrows━far more than a normal archer could achieve━that just passed harmlessly through the smoke.
And then, he spoke, "I hope you're seeing this Claire, because if you aren't, I'm giving up a lot of energy right now for nothing━hey! Whoa, Beasty! Watch the hair!"
"Are you all right?!" I asked my father, but my voice sounded lost in the wind.
Not even looking, from so far away, he spoke clearly in my ear, "Yeah, just dandy. But you gotta listen, kiddo, when the time comes, you gotta take the chance and just give it all you got. You were born for this exact moment. I know you can do it. You're gonna make me proud."
He's never said those words to me. You're gonna make me proud, like he already knew I would━like I made him proud already everyday. I choked up when I knew I shouldn't've, but it hit me much like the winds hit the nearest building, sending it shaking. "Just ... just be careful," I told him, but I don't think he heard.
When I woke up, Annabeth wasn't there anymore. I frowned, wondering where she went. I moved, and found that I wouldn't immediately feel like I would want to pass out. I managed to sit up, taking a deep breath. I frowned when I realised that I slept what seemed like an entire day. Gods, perhaps I really needed it.
The door of the terrace opened, and Cain stepped through. He was dressed for battle, looking ragged, but surprised to see me sitting up. "What the━Claire! What are you doing?! You should be resting."
"I'm fine," I said and stood up. It hurt, but I pushed past the wince, not daring to show Cain that he was right. "I rested. I'm all good. What's happened?"
Cain gave me a sharp look that said, I know you're not okay. "A few things," he said, however, "Percy had a nice chat with Prometheus, offered him a lovely gift called Pandora's Box that we immediately put in the vaults━oh! And there's an army marching south to Central Park, which is cool, I guess."
Since the first day I've met Cain, his sarcasm has seriously grown.
"Okay," all of those things were very worrying, but I decided to focus on the last. "Let me get ready, I'll head down."
Cain frowned at me, "Uh, no, are you crazy? You literally nearly died again yesterday."
"I'm fine," I lied. "Where's my armour and stuff?"
While Cain did not look happy, I think he realised that I wasn't going to take no for an answer. So with a sigh, he told me and I started to get ready. I made sure no one was watching me, so they couldn't see the extreme pain I felt while strapping up my armour. But I couldn't lie there any longer, not when there was a whole army heading to Central Park. Not when my father and the other gods are out there fighting Typhon.
Finally getting through it, I took another deep breath and walked out. In seeing Percy passed out on one of the couches, I knew I should wake him up. Walking over, I leaned over to wake him only for him to jump awake and bang his head against mine.
"Ow!" we both said.
"Sorry," I rubbed my head with my good arm, standing over him "I was just about to wake you ."
He rubbed his head as well, looking shaken. I wondered what he had dreamt about━it had scared him, because he was pale and clammy, even more than I was, and that's saying something. "Percy?" I asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I knew he was lying. Looking up, he seemed to just realise I was standing there in combat armour. "What━what are you doing in armour? You should be resting."
"I'm fine," I said, and I knew I was lying as well. But I didn't want to worry him, even though I saw his worry face coming on already just at the sight of my pale skin. "That nectar and ambrosia fixed me up great. Plus Will's hymm. He's gotten a lot better at all of them."
"Uh━huh," Percy wasn't convinced. "You can't seriously go out and fight."
I offered him my good hand and helped him up. "You're going to need every person you have," I told him. "Cain just told me. There's an army━"
"Heading south into Central Park," Percy finished. "Yeah, I know."
He told me his dreams, and I knew he was leaving things out, but I figured this would be the best I'd get at the moment━and that was okay, because what he said was worrying enough.
"Do you think Ethan suspects your weak spot?"
"I don't know," Percy admitted. "He didn't tell Kronos anything, but if he figures it out━"
"We can't let him."
"I'll bonk him on the head harder next time," he suggested and I just gave him a look. "Any idea what surprise Kronos was talking about?"
I tried to think, but shook my head. "Nope━which isn't good."
"Agreed."
Wanting to lighten the mood, I gave him a small smirk, "So, Seaweed Brain, are you going to argue about me coming along?"
"Nah," he returned the grin. "You'd just beat me up."
I let out a laugh━a real one, and it felt good. "You know I would," I told him and Percy grabbed his sword. Together, we gathered Cain and Annabeth and went to rally the troops.
When we reached the reservoir, Thalia and the rest of the head counsellors were waiting for us. The lights of the city were blinking on at twilight with automatic timers. Streetlamps glowered around the shore of the lake, making the water and trees seem like there were leering and jeering at us.
"They're coming," Thalia confirmed, pointing north with a silver arrow. "One of my scouts just reported they've crossed the Harlem River. There was no way to hold them back. The army ..." she shrugged. "It's huge."
"We'll hold them at the park," said Percy. "Grover, you ready?"
He nodded. "As ready as we'll ever be. If my nature sprits can stop them anywhere, this is the place."
"Yes, we will!" said another voice. I frowned to see Leneus push his way through the crowd, stumbling over his own spear, and dressed in wood-bark armour that only covered half of his belly.
Percy looked just as surprised. "Leneus?"
"Don't act so surprised!" he huffed. "I am a leader of the council, and you did tell me to find Grover. Well, I found hi, and I'm not going to let a mere outcast lead the satyrs without my help!"
Behind Leneus's back, Grover made gagging motions. I hid my smile. "Never fear!" cried the old satyr, grinning like he was the saviour of the day. "We'll show those Titans!"
Percy managed to keep a straight face, which must have been hard. "Um ... yeah. Well, Grover━you won't be alone. Annabeth and the Athena cabin will make their stand here. We also got Claire and Cain to help. And me, and ... Thalia?"
She patted him on the shoulder. "Say no more. The Hunters are ready."
Percy then turned to the other counsellors. I grimaced to see Will amongst them, my new co-counsellor. Gods, Michael ... Will met my gaze sadly, and we shared a small exchange of grief over our fallen brother. "That leaves the rest of you with a job just as important. You have to guard the other entrances to Manhattan. You know how tricky Kronos is. He'll hope to distract us with this big army and sneak another force in somewhere else. Has each cabin chosen a bridge or tunnel?"
The counsellors nodded grimly.
"Then let's do it," said Percy. "Good hunting, everybody!"
Before Will left, I pulled him back, tearful to say, "Please, be careful."
Will nodded, a little tired himself. "You too. You should be resting."
"You can 'Doctor's Orders' me later, Will," I said. "I promise you, I'm fine. Just, come back alive, yeah?"
My little brother took a deep breath. He has grown up so much in the past few years from the nine-year-old boy who Lee had shown into the Apollo cabin and now this strong and determind, and very brave, teenager who had grown up far too fast. I wish I could protect him with everything I had━especially after Michael━but Will was old enough to make his own decisions. I was his age when I was fighting. I had sacrificed myself at his age.
I watched him lead the rest of the Apollo cabin to one of the tunnels, and I felt like I was waving goodbye for the last time, and I hope I wasn't. But something bad was going to happen, I just felt it in my bones.
° ° °
We could hear the army before we even saw it.
The noise was like a cannon barrage combined with a football-stadium crowd━like every sports fan in New England was charging us with bazookas (as quoted by Mr Percy Jackson). At the north end, the enemy vanguard broke through the woods━a warrior in golden armour leading a battalion of Laistrygonian giants with huge bronze axes. My blood boiled, those monsters killed Lee. Hundreds of other monsters poured out behind them.
"Positions!" Annabeth yelled.
Her cabin mates scrambled with Percy, Cain and I amongst them. The idea was the make the enemy army to break around the reservoir━aka, to get us, they'd have to follow the trails, which meant they would be marching in marrow colums on either side of the water. At first, the plan seemed to work. The enemy divided just as we wanted and streamed along the shore. When they were halfway across, our defences kicked in. The jogging trail erupted in Greek Fire, incinerating many of the monsters immediately. Others flailed around, engulfed in green flames. Athena campers threw grappling hooks around the largest giants and pulled them to the ground.
Cain sent some of the army fleeing away, but he could only do a little bit at a time if he wanted to preserve his energy. In the woods on the right, the Hunters sent a volley of silver arrows into the enemy line, destroying twenty or thirty dracaenae, but more marched behind them. A bolt of lightning crackled out of the sky and fried a Laistrygonian giant to ashes, and Thalia lowered her spear, looking at the carnage she caused with a grim face.
Grover raised his pipes and played a quick tune. A roar went up from the woods on both sides as every tree, rock and bush erupted with nature spirits. Dryads and satyrs raised their clubs and charged. The trees wrapped around the monsters, strangling them. Grass grew around the feet of the enemy archers. Stones flew up and hit dracaenae in the faces.
I did my best to help, creating barriers of light and blinding some monsters so they fell over each other. But while I refused to show it, the strain was making my arm scream in pain. Whenever I notched an arrow, it felt like my skin was splitting apart, and my aim was a lot worse because I couldn't keep a firm control off the arrows.
The enemy surged forward. Giants smashed through the trees, and naiads faded as their life sources were destroyed. Hellhounds lunged at the timber wolves, knocking them aside. Enemy archers returned fire and a Hunter fell form a high branch.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed his arm and pointed at the reservoir. The Titan in the golden armour wasn't waiting for his forces to advance around the sides. He charged straight at us, walking over the top of the lake, like full on Jesus walking on water.
A Greek fire bomb exploded right on top of him, but he raised his palm and sucked the flames out of the air.
I wondered whether I could do that.
"Hyperion," I murmured. "The Lord of Light. Titan of the east."
"Bad?" Percy guessed.
"He's the only one other than Helios and Apollo (and me, I guess) that can control light," I explained. "Next to Atlas, he's supposedly the greatest Titan warrior."
Annabeth nodded. "In the old days, four Titans controlled the four corners of the world. Hyperion was the east—the most powerful. He was the father of Helios, the first sun god."
Percy glared at him, "I'll keep him busy."
"Percy, even you can't—"
"Just keep our forces together!"
I couldn't watch, even though I wanted to. Annabeth and I kept our forces together, fighting and trying to kill as many monsters as we could. Cain rejoined us, fighting like a demon. His longsword was no match to the nets the dracaenae held, and he sliced right through them like they were sand. When the blinding light hit, everyone but me had to cover their faces. I looked over, taking the chance to see Percy blindly throw up his sword, catching Hyperion's blade just in time. The shock wave sent a three-metre ring of water across the surface of the lake.
Then the tidal wave reversed and just before impact, Percy jumped upward on a jet of water. The waves smashed into Hyperion, and he yelled as he went under, his light extinquished. Percy landed on the lake's surface just as Hyperion struggled to his feet. His golden armour was dripping wet.
I couldn't look anymore, but I heard him shout: "You will burn, Jackson!" and there was another clang! as their swords met. On the right flank, Annabeth was leading an assault with her siblings and me. One the left flank, Cain had joined Grover and his nature spirits that were regrouping, entagling the enemies with bushes and weeds before Cain would turn them to dust with a single swing of his sword━
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Percy flying away from the water. He landed harshly against the ground, and if it weren't for his Achilles Blessing, he would have broken every bone in his body. Hyperion stood over him, laughing. Percy got to his feet, groaning, "I really hate it when you Titans do that."
Hyperion closed on him with blinding speed━
And then Percy decided to cause a hurricane.
I don't even think he knew he was doing, but in seconds, wind swirled around him, bring up water and dousing Hyperion whenever he erupted into flames. He was being pushed away━stumbling with water spraying in his face, stinging his eyes. The wind picked up, and Hyperion staggered backwards. I killed a monster, and had the chance to stop and stare, amazed at Percy who hovered up above the water, and for a second, he looked like Typhon. The grass around him had flattened at a twenty-metre radius. Enemy warriors through jabelins at him, but the storm knocked them aside.
"Percy!" Grover called in amazement. "How are you doing that?"
Lightning flickered around Percy. The clouds darked, the rain swirled faster, and Percy closed on Hyperion, blowing him off his feet.
(This boy).
"Percy!" Grover called again. "Bring him over here!"
And he did━he full on propelled Hyperion across the field, straight to where Grover was waiting. "I will not be toyed with!" Hyperion bellowed. He managed to get to his feet again, but Grover put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play. Leneus joined him. Around the grove, every satyr took up the song━an eerie tune like a creek flowing over stones. The ground erupted at Hyperion's feet. Gnarled roots wrapped around his legs.
"What is this?" he tried to shake off the roots, but they just thickened until he looked like he was wearing some wooden Levi's. "Stop this! Your woodland magic is no match for a Titan!"
But the more he struggled, the faster the roots grew. They curled around his body, thickening and hardening into bark. His golden armour melted into the wood becoming part of the trunk. The music cotinued, getting louder and louder. Hyperion's forces backed up, stunned, as their leader was absorbed. He stretched out his arms, and they soon became branches, from which smaller brances shot out and grew leaves. The tree grew taller, thicker ... until only his face was visible in the middle of the trunk.
"You cannot imprison me!" he bellowed. "I am Hyperion! I am━"
The bark closed over his face. I couldn't help but grin. Go Grover!
Grover took his pipes from his lips. "You are a very nice maple tree," he said.
Several of the other satyrs passed out from exhaustion, but they had done their job well. The Titan lord was completely encased in an enormous maple. The Titan's army decided to retreat, a cheer went up from the Athena cabin, I grinned and rushed over to Percy. With my good arm, I punched him across the shoulder.
"Gods━since when could you do that?"
Percy grinned at me, shrugging it off as if it was nothing. "Eh, what can I say. I'm Poseidon's son. You gotta admit, Claire, I make a pretty good hurricane."
I pursed my lips at him, knowing what he was doing. "More like a pretty good annoyance."
"You forgot to add good-looking to that sentence."
"In your dreams, Drool Boy."
"I mean, if you wish..."
I punched his shoulder again, trying to hide my blush. "Gods, you're so full of yourself!"
"Am I?" Percy shuffled closer, and we were standing very━very close. If I wanted to, I could just kiss him ... I want to kiss him again. "Well, that just hurts, Miss Sunshine, I thought we had something."
"Just because you created your own personal hurricane," I jabbed my finger in his chest, "Does not change how I remember you at twelve completely drooling in your sleep━you still do, by the way."
He chuckled, grinning like he was having the time of his life. I know my blush got redder, but the moment of victory and flirting was short-lived. Because out of nowhere, a squeal tore through the sky━
"REEEEEEET!"
I frowned, "What the actual fu━?"
The squeal echoed through upper Manhattan. Demigods and monsters alike froze in terror. I then realised, and my eyes widened. "Oh, you got to be kidding me!"
Grover shot us a panicked look. "Why does that sound like━it can't be!"
"REEEEEEEEEET!" it squealed again, and a huge pink creature soared over the reservoir━a sow with wings.
"A sow!" Annabeth cried. "Take cover!"
We all scattered as the winged pig swooped down with wings as bright pink as a flamingo's. Her hooves slammed into the ground, barely missing one of Annabeth's siblings. The pig stomped around and tore down half an acre of trees, belching a cloud of noxious gas. Then it took off again, circling around for anoether strike.
Percy tugged me back up, watching it with a gaping mouth. "Don't tell me that thing is from Greek mythology," he complained.
"It's the Clazmonian Sow," I said. "It terrorised Greek towns back in the day."
"Let me guess. Hercules beat it?"
"Nope."
"Perseus?"
"Nope."
"Theseus?"
"Percy," I said, "as far as I know, no hero has ever beaten it."
"Perfect," he grumbled.
The Titan's army were recovering from shock, probably realising that the sow was on their side, not ours. We only had seconds efore they were ready to fight, and our forces were still in a panic. Every time the sow belched, Grover's nature spirits yelped and faded back into their trees.
"The big has to go," Percy decided, grabbing a grappling hook from one of Annabeth's siblings. "I'll take care of it. You guys hold the rest of the enemy. Push them back!"
"But Percy," Grover said, "what if we can't?"
He was right. Grover looked exhausted. Annabeth was getting tired. Cain looked ready to drop from the amount of monsters he has scared away. And while I spent a lot of effort to hide it, my arm was hitting me much more than it had been earlier, and I think Percy realised that. We didn't know how the Hunters were doing, but the right flank of the enemy army was now between them and us. I know Percy didn't want to leave us, but he had to. I gave him a simple nod, and he gritted his teeth.
"Retreat if you need to," he said. "Just slow them down. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Then, he swung the grappling hook like a lasso. When the sow came down for its next pass, he threw the grapling hook, and it wrapped around the base of the pig's wing. It squeaked in rage and veered off, yanking the rope and Percy into the sky.
° ° °
a/n: someone pls protect the apollo children. they just be dying at an abnormal rate atm.